


A Week in Limbo

by shnuffeluv



Series: Danger Gays: The Extras [12]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Coming Out, Disownment, Family Reunions, Gen, LGBTQ Themes, Trans Male Character, how is disownment not a canonical tag and what IS the canonical tag, kicked out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: When Calvin gets kicked out, he knows exactly who to call, if only he can acquire a cell phone.-OR-#GiveTobyABreak2022
Relationships: October | Toby Sanders & Original Male Character(s)
Series: Danger Gays: The Extras [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1462492
Comments: 17
Kudos: 72





	A Week in Limbo

Calvin was shaking and crying as he stumbled through the city, looking for anyone kind enough to lend him their phone. Mom had confiscated his, right before kicking him out, so he had no way to contact anyone who might be able to pick him up. He walked up to an older lady and asked shakily, “Please, ma’am, can I borrow your phone? I don’t have mine on me and I need someone to come pick me up.”

The woman looked him over. “Are you all right, young lady?”

Calvin didn’t even have the mental energy to correct her. “Not really. I need to call my uncle, though, because he can help.” That was, of course, providing he was accepting. Calvin didn’t know at this point.

The woman fished in her purse and pulled out a flip phone. “I know it’s not much, but it makes calls,” she said.

Calvin nodded and nearly sobbed out a, “Thank you.” He dialled the number Uncle Toby had given him recently, because he had to change his phone number when he moved. He waited with baited breath as the line rang. Once...twice... _“Hello?”_

Sweet salvation. “Uncle Toby? I need some help,” he gasped.

_“Susie?”_ Uncle Toby asked.

“Calvin,” he corrected before he could stop himself. “It’s...uh...it’s Calvin now.”

_“Oh. Oh, God,”_ Uncle Toby breathed. _“You didn’t happen to tell your mother about that?”_ Calvin’s whimper was apparently answer enough. _“Oh, it’s going to be okay, kid. I’ll come right over. Where are you? And why aren’t you using your own phone?”_

“Mom...mom kicked me out,” Calvin stammered, and he knew the old woman was staring, and he was still crying, but he couldn’t bring himself to care right now. “And she took my phone away. I’m in the middle of the city, I don’t know exactly where, but it’s got a book store of some sort...uh...Bear’s Bare Books, I think it was? Just a couple blocks down.”

_“Su...Calvin, I’m coming right over, but it’s going to take a while, okay? Like, I might not make it there before sundown. Find a place nearby, like a McDonald’s or something, that you can lay low in. Doesn’t matter which one, I’ll check them all, okay? Once I’ve got you, we’ll figure out a game plan, okay?”_

“Okay,” Calvin said. “I’ll be across the street from that bookstore. I know for a fact that the workers at that place don’t mind you loitering if you bought something at some point that day.”

_“Okay,”_ Uncle Toby said. _“Okay. I’ll be there as fast as I can, Calvin. I promise.”_

Calvin breathed out a, “Thank you,” and hung up, passing the old woman her phone. “Thank you for letting me use it,” he said. “Sincerely. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t.” But before she could say anything, he was running towards the bookstore, and the McDonald’s across from it.

He got there, ordered a single small black coffee, and held it in his hands as he stared out the window at the parking lot, looking for any sign of Toby’s car. He waited for hours, ignoring the looks other patrons sent his way. At one point a worker came over and asked, “Honey, how old are you?”

Calvin froze. “Uh...eighteen?” he lied. The worker squinted her eyes and he looked away. “Seventeen,” he said.

She bought that one, at least. “Do you have some place to go?” she asked.

“Yeah, my uncle’s coming to pick me up,” Calvin said. “He just so happens to live a while away. He’ll be here before closing, though, promise. You don’t have to stay and wait with me, or call the cops.”

The worker sighed. “Honey, I _will_ call CPS if he doesn’t show up by midnight.”

“He’ll be here,” Calvin said, forcing all the conviction he had into his voice. “Don’t worry.”

She nodded and went on her way, and Calvin went back to staring at the window. An hour and a half later, the sun had set and the cars in the parking lot were smears of black on black with occasional reflections. In an instant, the front door burst open and Toby dashed in, looking around wildly until his eyes landed on Calvin.

Calvin had stood up, coffee long forgotten and he flung his arms around Uncle Toby, as Uncle Toby hugged him and shushed him quietly as he hyperventilated just a little. “Uncle Toby...” he breathed. “Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you for coming, I didn’t know what I was gonna do...”

“It’s gonna be okay, Calvin, I promise,” Toby soothed. “We’ll figure everything out.”

Calvin whimpered and nodded. When they broke apart, Calvin wrapped his arms around his stomach. “It’s late,” he managed to say.

“It is,” Uncle Toby agreed. “Bit too late to head back to my place, I think. How about we grab a motel for the night and then head back to mine tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure if I can sleep,” Calvin admitted.

“Yeah,” Uncle Toby agreed. “Still, some place to sit and chat that isn’t a McDonald’s you’ve been bumming around for the whole afternoon.”

Calvin laughed despite himself. “They’ll be glad to see me go,” he joked.

Uncle Toby wrapped an arm around Calvin’s shoulders and didn’t let go until he had to in order to drive. They went to a motel on the outskirts of the city and Uncle Toby paid for a room. They got the keys, walked inside, and Calvin asked, “Do you mind if I take a shower? I didn’t get a chance to last night, seeing as how Mom wouldn’t let me in the house.”

Uncle Toby blinked. “You were kicked out _yesterday?!”_

Oh. Maybe that was bad. “Uh...yeah. Yesterday morning. I looked for two days for someone who’d let me call you.”

Uncle Toby looked furious, but Calvin somehow knew the anger wasn’t directed towards him. “Yeah. Go take a shower, buddy. You deserve some time to unwind, although I don’t know how bad it might be for you to be...uh...naked...Dysphoria, and all that.”

“It’s not as bad as it could be,” Calvin said, pulling off his hoodie. “But it’s not great, either. I’ll be right back out.”

He stripped his clothes from his body and hopped in the shower, turning the water on just barely warm enough, and took his time to wash everything. He didn’t feel filthy, exactly, but he definitely didn’t feel clean. He took a breath and let it out shakily. He was going to be okay. Uncle Toby had found him, and he had a place to stay.

_For how long?_ His mind taunted. _You don’t know that Uncle Toby won’t just drop you off with CPS. How long until you screw up and he sends you away?_

Calvin was hyperventilating as he put his dirty clothes back on, and he cringed as he realized he didn’t even have anything else to wear. He was going to have to ask Uncle Toby for new clothes. God, he was such a bother.

Walking out of the bathroom, Uncle Toby was immediately on him. “Hey, what’s wrong, kid? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“You’re not...you’re not going to send me away, are you?” Calvin asked.

“What? Of course not,” Uncle Toby said. “Calvin, I won’t make you live anywhere you’re not comfortable living. That includes your mother’s house, if she tries to get you back.”

“She won’t want me back,” Calvin said, laughing even as he cried.

“You’d be surprised. Your grandmother was constantly going after...well, she would say your other uncle, but that’s not entirely true.” Uncle Toby shook his head. “First chance we get, I’m taking you to see him. He can probably help more than I can.”

Calvin felt his stomach drop. “How would he...help?” he asked.

Uncle Toby blinked, before facepalming. “Oh, God, Calvin. I’m not going to make him take you in, and I would never force you to stay there. You might _like_ him and his family, but for the time being, you’re staying with me, if that’s all right. You don’t know them well enough to trust them, and that’s completely understandable. You only met at your grandmother’s funeral.”

“Wait...” Calvin said. “Is this uncle the one Mom slapped? I thought he was a girl?”

“He’s...uh...he’s genderfluid,” Uncle Toby said. “I don’t understand the specifics of it, but...”

“Oh, I kinda do. I have some friends online who are genderfluid,” Calvin said. “You think he can help with trans stuff?”

“Yeah,” Toby said, shoulders sagging in relief. “I didn’t mean help as in take you in, but he and his kids might be able to educate both you and I on next steps.”

Calvin nodded, sighing. “Is it okay if we just, like...talk? For a while?”

“Of course,” Toby said.

They each got situated on a bed and Calvin just...talked. About Mom, and how Dad didn’t even try to back him up. About how he had known he was different for years, but he had only realized he was transgender recently, within the past couple months. About how he had tried to gauge how accepting Mom was about trans people, and how she reacted neutrally until it came to him, when she went ballistic. About how scared he was that fateful first night, how he slept in an alley behind a dumpster in the hopes that no one would see him.

When Calvin was winding down, and the numbness started to fade, and he was beginning to cry again, Uncle Toby took a turn talking. He talked about his experience with people he knew were LGBT in one way or another. About how he had started out very close-minded, but people who were close to him coming out made him see why he was wrong.

About this mysterious uncle Calvin hadn’t ever properly met. About how this uncle had never gotten along well with his grandmother (and frankly, Calvin didn’t blame him for that), and had gone off to college but paid for it on his own because he wanted to choose his own major. About how he had met a man there who he loved, and married, and how they had somehow accidentally acquired five kids. Calvin laughed incredulously at the last part, but Uncle Toby swore on his life that it was true. Five kids and a dog.

They talked back and forth through the entire night, and the only reason Calvin realized it was morning was because Uncle Toby looked at the clock, opened one of the motel windows, and said, “I think if we leave now we’ll miss most of rush hour.”

Calvin turned red. “I didn’t mean to keep you up all night,” he said.

“Calvin, you needed that,” Uncle Toby said, grabbing Calvin’s hoodie and offering it to him. “I won’t ever blame you for taking something you need.”

He didn’t understand, but he didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded.

Uncle Toby went to the lobby of the motel, returned the key and paid for the room, and then they were on the road. Calvin was staring out the window when Uncle Toby next spoke. “I think once you’ve slept, we should get you some clothes and contact CPS. Not necessarily in that order.”

“I’m...I’m not ready to talk to CPS,” Calvin said.

“That’s why I said after you slept,” Uncle Toby said. “When you’re more well-rested, we’ll get you some clothes, and then we’ll contact CPS. Depending on when you’re ready we might switch that order around. But we need to talk to them, if only to find out how I can claim you as a dependent for me and not your mother.”

“Okay,” Calvin said softly.

The rest of the drive was filled with unimportant conversation, Toby asking the occasional question about school, and friends, and Calvin answering honestly instead of just saying “It’s going okay” because Mom couldn’t tell him to keep his mouth shut on this one.

When they got to Uncle Toby’s, it was the middle of the day, and Calvin was so exhausted that when he stumbled into the apartment, Uncle Toby took him to the master bedroom, and Calvin was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Calvin woke up some indeterminable amount of time later, exhausted but feeling much more stable than he had the past two days. He stumbled out of the master bedroom to find the sun casting shadows through the windows that were all wrong for evening. But the sun wasn’t up in the middle of the sky...so he couldn’t have slept for _that_ long...right?

“Woah, you’re awake!” Uncle Toby said, walking out of the kitchen with a laugh. “Morning, Calvin.”

“Wha’ time’sit?” Calvin mumbled with a yawn.

“Early-to-mid morning. You’re almost as bad as Remy when you sleep in! You were out cold for sixteen hours.”

“Oh,” Calvin said, blinking. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, buddy, I wasn’t too worried. You’ve been through a lot.” Uncle Toby ran a hand through his hair. “So, I called CPS right before you walked out, figuring out if they had any possible times for us to come in, and the first availability was tomorrow. Which means we have all of today to pass in order to get there.”

Calvin shifted on his feet. “Do you think we could go see my other uncle?”

“Remy?” Toby asked. He pursed his lips in thought. “I think it’s a bit too long a drive for a day trip when you have stuff to do tomorrow. But I’ll take you to him the first day we have available, sound good?”

Calvin sighed but nodded. “Short that, what can we do?”

“Well...” Toby looked around. “There’s TV, and I have a laptop you can use to contact your friends and let them know you’re all right. Perks of being a graphic designer is that I don’t have to go _in_ to work so long as I have everything done by the deadlines, and I just finished my last project the day before you called. But I think the very first thing we should do, is get you some clothes, and then spruce up the guest room a bit. Much as I love you, buddy, you’re not stealing the master bedroom every night.”

Calvin laughed. “I wouldn’t want to!” he exclaimed. He grew quiet. “A new wardrobe is going to cost a lot of money...”

“Well, I’m by no means rich but I have enough to buy you at least a week’s worth of outfits. Once we figure out what we’re doing with living arrangements I will definitely be working hard at making sure you have everything you need,” Uncle Toby said. “Because that’s what family does.”

Calvin blinked uncomprehendingly.

“Look, we can explain more later,” Uncle Toby said. “You’re...what, fifteen, right?”

“Sixteen,” Calvin said. “I was gonna get my permit soon. I asked Mom if we could change my name before I had to get my license.”

Uncle Toby nodded. “Well, then we’ll work on getting you a permit, too. If you’re staying with me, I’ll do everything I can to make sure your license has your name on it.”

Calvin grinned.

Uncle Toby herded Calvin outside and to the car, and they got in together, before proceeding to drive around town to different stores, buying clothes that Calvin liked. He grew embarrassed when they had to look at underwear, but he picked out two other bras, and meekly asked, “Can I get boxer briefs?”

Uncle Toby looked slightly shocked. “I would have assumed you would get that in the first place,” he said. “You know your size, right?”

Calvin nodded and they grabbed two packs of briefs in his size. “Mom was a control freak, and she _really_ did not like me doing my own laundry, or buying my own clothes,” he sighed. “It sucked because I couldn’t buy anything I really wanted.”

“Yeah, I can only imagine,” Uncle Toby said, shaking his head as they went to the front and rang their purchases up. “I would love to strangle Vanessa over this, frankly.”

Calvin startled. “You? You never like violence!”

“There are exceptions to every rule,” Uncle Toby said evenly. “And frankly, if she’s acting that much like your grandmother, I fear not only for your safety, but Johnny’s as well.”

Calvin swallowed. “Grandma was like that? I thought she was at least _somewhat_ nice...”

“She mellowed out a little with age,” Uncle Toby said. “But growing up with her as a mother was nothing short torture.”

Calvin’s eyes widened and he could feel his heart leap into his throat. “What? But...Mom said...”

“Vanessa doesn’t believe that the abuse was _actually_ abuse,” Uncle Toby said. “She thinks it was just ‘character building’ or some...some _shit_ like that.”

Calvin was shocked by the sheer venom in Uncle Toby’s voice. “Is that why...why my other uncle...aunt...uh...is that why _they_ didn’t come back when grandma was dying?”

“I never told him,” Uncle Toby said, leading Calvin out of the store. “Because he would have tried to make amends, but she would have demanded the impossible of him, and when he wouldn’t deliver she’d snap at him and hurt him. I didn’t want him going through that again when he had gotten past a majority of the childhood trauma.”

The rest of the day was a haze for Calvin. He knew he talked to his friends on Uncle Toby’s computer, and he watched TV, with Uncle Toby cleaning up in the background and make the guest room “presentable.” And when Calvin went to sleep that night, all he could think of was this mysterious family member who knew the truth about every homophobe in the family and had run away from the carnage into a new life.

The next day was spent entirely with CPS, answering questions, and talking with Uncle Toby and so many random adults trying to figure out what was going to happen. They made some calls when Calvin talked about Johnny after they asked if he had any siblings, and Calvin was terrified. “Don’t worry,” Uncle Toby said. “No one will know that you tipped them off. If Vanessa asks, I’m the one who did it. Because I _would_ have told them if they hadn’t asked you first.”

Calvin nodded shakily and he breathed out slowly. He couldn’t remember half of the questions the people around him were asking him, and he hated having to give out his birth name every time they asked. But he knew he had to.

And the very next day, it was all made worth it when he walked out of the guest room to find Uncle Toby staring at a mug of coffee and saying definitively, “I think it’s time you met Remy.”

Calvin knew that the second the numbness went away he’d be crying again, but right now, he was just so relieved that someone out there could help him, he just said, “Let’s go, then!”

**Author's Note:**

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